Door check and holder



July 26, 1938. R. H. WRIGHT DOOR CHECK AND HOLDER Filed NOV- 6, 1936 Patented July 26, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DOOR CHECK AND HOLDER Richard H. Wright, Cleveland, Ohio Application November 6, 1936, Serial No. 109,573

, 2 Claims.

This invention relates to door checks which as are primarily intended for use with doors of automobiles or other vehicle bodies, and the like. More particularly, the invention has to do with an improved door checl; structure wherein means is provided for maintaining the door in one or more predetermined positions, more especially, an open position.

In door check devices heretofore in use for automobile doors, it has been suggested to provide an arm or shank which is pivotally secured, to the hinge edge of the door or the hinge post of the vehicle body, the opposite, end of the arm or shank extending through the contiguous edge of the hinge post or the door, as the case may be, and having mounted thereon a resilient buffor member adapted to cushion the opening movement of the door and yieldably check the same. However, as far as I am aware, no provision has been made in any practical door check structure of the types heretofore employed, for preventing the door from immediately swinging closed by its own weight or by the rebounding of the door resulting from the cushioned checking of the same at the end of its opening movement.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a simple and inexpensive door check, together with an equally simple and. inexpensive 3 spring stop adapted to cooperate with the door checkin such manner that the door will be held open automatically when swung to its fully openedpositicn, while allowing the door to be released readily for closing the same and without departing from the normal manner of opening and closing the door.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an improved door check structure wherein the door will be more or less frictionally held in any position so as to normally prevent the do'or'from swinging one way or the other by its own weight or by an inadvertent jarring of the same. i i F More specifically, the invention is characterized by the provision of a door check arm or shank, one end of which is adapted to be pivotally mounted on a suitable support, and the opposite end 'of which has mounted thereon a suitable yieldable buffer adapted 'to' cooperate 50 with an abutment on the door, together with a spring member which is so mounted with relationtto the door check arm as to cause the spring member to releasably interengage with the bustfer means when the latter engages the abutment aforesaid. 1

(on. 16-.-86) I Other objects and advantages of the invention will be hereinafter described, and the noval features thereof defined by the appended claims.

In the drawing:-- h

Figure 1 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view, taken on a plane-through a door and body structure of a motor vehicle or the like, substantially at the point of attachment of the door check, the door check being shown partly in section and partly in elevation, and embodying the improved spring stop feature which forms a part of the invention, the parts being shown in their relative positions when the door is closed;

Figure 2 is 'a view generally similar to Figure 1, illustrating the relative positions of the parts when the door is open, and showing the action of the spring stop member in releasably holding the door in open position;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary detail view in side elevation of the door check parts and thev spring stop in their engaged positions; and

Figure 4 is a detail view of the parts illustrated in Figure 3, as seen in end elevation.

Like reference characters designate corresponding parts in the several figures of the drawing, wherein l designates a door hingedly mounted upon a vehicle body, generally designated 2, by means of suitable hinges 3.. These parts may be of conventional design, and it is to be understood that while reference is made herein to doors of motor vehicle bodies and the like, the invention is not limited to this field, and such doors have been illustrated and described merely by way of illustration of one application of the invention. The number of hinges 3 by means of which the door is mounted on the body structure is immaterial.

Pivotally mounted, as at t, through means of a bracket 5' secured to the hinge edge 5 of the door, is a door check arm or shank 6, which may be made of relatively flat bar material of preferably less thickness than width. This arm or bar extends away from the hinge edge of the door and through a suitable opening I provided therefor in the contiguous edge 8 of the body structure 2. For convenience, this edge 8 may be termed the hinge post of the body. The free end 9 of the bar or arm 6 is bent laterally so'as to permit the check arm to slide through the opening l as the door is swung open and closed and so that when the door is closed, the check arm 6 will lie within the usual space afforded between the inner and outer walls of the vehicle body 2. The extent of curvature of the part 9, and the general shape of the arm may be varied to accommodate different types of door and body structures, and while the check arm has been shown asoperating in a more or less horizontal position, it might also be used to operate in a more or less vertical position as in the case of application to doors or swinging parts which are adaptedto swing about a horizontal axis.

Mounted on the free end 9 of the check arm 6 is a resilient buffer member III, preferably composed of rubber or other yieldable material, the same being provided with an opening therethrough so that the buffer member may be slipped on over the end of the check arm, the opening through the buffer having a tight fit on the arm. The purpose of this bufier-IO is to member III is retained on the arm I5 by a retainer disc or washer II, which, when assembled on .the free end 9 of the arm 6, is preferably posiin the opposite edges of the arm adjacent to the free extremity thereof. As ;a convenient means of interlocking the disc ,I I. with the notches I2, I2, the disc is provided with a recess I3 extending from its periphery to about the center, and before the disc is mounted on the arm 6, the opposite walls Il, I4 of the recess I3 are preferably normally parallel and spaced apart suiliciently so that the portion of the arm intermediate therecesses I2, I2 may be freely passed into the recess I3 of the disc II until the arm 6 is approximately centered with respect to the disc. Thereupon, the recess I3 is constricted or closed, as by pressing or forcing the portions of the disc at opposite sides of the recess towards each other through means of any suitable instrumentality. In thus constricting or closing .the recess I3, as best seen in Figure 4, the retainer disc or washer II becomes positively and rigidly interlocked with the arm, and there is no possibility of the same becoming inadvertently displaced during use of the door check. Moreover, sucha construction has no tendency to develop rattles by reason of any likelihood of the parts becoming loosened during use.

Passing now to the description of the spring stop by means of which the door may be held in an open position, I mount on the inside of the hinge post 8 of the'body 2, within the usual space afforded between the inner and outer walls ber I 0, so that when the door is fully opened to the position illustrated in Figure 2, the buffer member II) will be drawn between the arms I5, I5

andwill be frictionallyengaged thereby with a substantial clamping pressure. To still iurther increase *the effectivenessof the arms I5; I5 in holding the door in its open position, I preferably provide a recess I6 in each of the arms I5, these recesses being suitably formed as by bending the material of the arms I5, I5 as best seen marginal edges of the retainer plate or disc II will be received in said recesses, as shown in Figure 2, when the door is swung open to the limit of its movement. The free end I! of each ofthe fingers or arms I5 is oil'set or inclined laterally so that together, these portions I-l facilitate the entrance of the buffer head assembly composed of the buffer I and the retainer II, therebetween, and serve to guide the check arm 6 as it approaches the end of its movement during the opening of the door.

By extending the base I8 of each arm or finger I towards each other sufliciently far to closely engage the opposite edges of the check arm 6 with a firm frictional engagement, the guiding of the arm 6 is further facilitated. This frictional engagement just mentioned may also be utilized to check the movement of the door and temporarily hold the door in any position intermediate the extreme open and closed positions. As best seen in Figures 1 and 2, the arms or fingers I5, I5 are preferably mounted on the hinge post 8 of the body 2 in slightly spaced relation to the latter, this spacing being maintained byone or more spacing plates I9 which serves to reinforce the hinge post at the opening I, the spacing plate, of course, being provided with a suitable opening aligned with the opening I to allow the check arm 6 to extend therethrough. I

Since the retainer I I is preferably circular in form, I prefer to curve the arms I5 transversely,

drawn therebetween according .to the manner of Figure 2. r

The operation of the invention should be readilyapparent from the foregoing, and may be briefly summarized as follows: Assuming the door I is closed as shown in Figure 1, upon opening' of the same to the position shown in Figure 2, the check ,arm 8 will slide through the aperture I in the hinge post of the body 2 until the buffer I0 abuts the inner faces of the bases I8 of the oppositely'disposed arms or fingers I5,

I5. Of course, as the buffer III enters between the arms I5, I5, the opening movement of the door will be partially checked, leaving only the final impact shock of the butter III against the bases I8 to be absorbed by the resilient bufler. When the parts assume the positions illustrated in Figure 2, the fingers I5, I5, exert a yieldable clamping action upon the buifer II), tending to at least partially prevent the door from rebounding closed, and this is further augmented .by the receiving of the opposite sides of the refingers I5 into close frictional engagement with the check arm 6 may be utilizedas ,a further check and friction limit stop, especially-for in- I termediate positions-of the door; as .wellas forfacilitating the guidingof the checkarm dur-'v I ing its slidingmovements through the opening' Upon closing the doonthe application -ofzaslight force in the direction of closing movement .will shiit the check arm 6 inwardly through opening I, therebyretracting the bufler ll and retainer II from between the stop fingers ii, the

parts occupying substantially the positions illustrated in Figure 1 when the door reaches its fully closed position.

It is to be-understood that in mounting the door check, it may be located anywhere between the upper and lower extremities of the door, as desired. In practice, one check unit per door will generally be found sufllcient, although more than one check unit can be provided if this is desirable. It will likewise be obvious that the door' check may be mounted in the reverse order from that herein described;

' that is to say, the check arm 6 may be pivotally mounted on the hinge post of the body 2, rather than the hingeedge of the door I, in which event, the resilient stop-fingers l5, I! would be mounted on the inside of the hinge edge of the door for cooperation with the buffer assembly which would be accordingly located within the door structure instead of within thebody structure,the hinge edge oi the door being, of course, suitably provided-with an opening for slidably receiving the check arm 6 therethrough. In

stead of separately illustrating this reverse order of mounting, the same can be readily understood 4 by considering the part designated I as the body structure, and the part designated 2 as the door structure.

While the specific details of construction have, been herein shown and described, the invention is not confined thereto, as changes and alterations may be made without departing from the spirit thereoi' as defined by the appended claims.

Having thusdescribed by invention, what I' claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is- 1. In a device of the class described, the combination with a door check comprising acheck arm, one end of whichis adapted to be attached to the hinge edge of a door, and the check arm being also adapted to extend through the hinge post of the structure upon which the door is mounted, a resilient bufler mounted upon the free end of said check arm, and a retainer member interlockingly mounted upon the free end of said check 'arm, of a resilient stop member adapted to be mounted 'upon the hinge post aforesaid for engaging the buflfer member when the door is swung to an open position and serving to 'rereleasably hold the door in such an open position, said resilient stop member having provision for interengaging with the retainer member whereby to temporarily restrain the door from moving.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination with a door check comprising a check arm, one end of which is adapted to be pivotally attached to the hinge edge of a door, and the bufl'er member and retainer disc are adapted to be received when the door is opened to the limit of its movement as determined by the bufi'er member, and when in such open position, said fingers engaging the bufier member with a firm clamping action, and being further provided with recesses receiving the marginal edges of the retainer disc at opposite sides thereof whereby to temporarily restrain the door from moving.

RICHARD H. WRIGHT. 

